TOM LOVELL ILLUSTRATOR1000 copies only. Our Highest Recommendation. New from The Illustrated Press. Tom Lovell is widely known today for his Western and fine art work, and previous books focused almost exclusively on this side of his career. This spectacular new book branches out to explore the artist's earlier days as an illustrator. Featuring over 270 illustrations, this 224 page volume is filled with beautiful illustrations reproduced from the original paintings and drawings, as well as scores of rarely seen tear sheets from the pulps, the slicks, and beyond, circa the 1930s to the mid-70s. Illustrated Press, 2016...More.

More Art Books

SPACESHIPS An Illustrated History of The Real And The ImaginedHighly Recommended. By Ron Miller. How have actual spaceships influenced the design of fictional ones like the Millenium Falcon and the Starship Enterprise? Did a fiction series in Collier's magazine really inspire us to create real-life space stations like Mir and the ISS? How have our depictions of space travel developed as the reality of space travel changed? In this very cool new book, Ron Miller shows that when it comes to manned spacecraft, art actually does imitate life and, even more bizarrely, life imitates art. Packed with 800 images and photos!! Smithsonian, 2016...More.

I really like this book. It has something for fans of vintage comics and comics strips, vintage toys, early films and TV, as well as the real ships that all this prediction and fiction inspired! This reminds me of two similar books that really nicely covered their subjects:

ALSO AVAILABLECONAN THE PHENOMENONThe Legacy of Robert E. Howard's Fantasy Icon. Highly Recommended. By Paul M. Sammon, foreword by Michael Moorcock. This in-depth visual tour through the history of fantasy's greatest hero covers everything from the earliest prose pieces of Robert E. Howard to Frazetta's explosive artwork, through the Schwarzenegger film, and into the rebirth of the character at Dark Horse Comics. Comics historian Paul M. Sammon delivers an engrossing visual history! Dark Horse, 2013...More.

Item Code: CTP
Soft Cover, 9x12, 175pg, Full Color
$19.99 $16.99

ALSO AVAILABLETARZAN The Centennial CelebrationHighly Recommended. Edited by Scott Tracy Griffin, introduction by Ron Ely. Celebrating a century of Tarzan, this is a detailed commentary illustrated with the most evocative and beautiful art, beginning with a cover by Neal Adams! There are daily and Sunday pages by Hogarth, Foster and Manning. Extraordinary book covers and interiors by Frazetta, St. John and Krenkel. Comics from Dell, Gold Key, Marvel and Dark Horse. Classic stills from the films, classic covers and art from the first pulp magazine appearances. Titan, 2012...More.

Item Code: TZCENH
Hard Cover, 10x13, 320pg, Full Color
$39.95 $31.95

GIRL POWER AMANDA CONNER Gallery Edition
By Justin Gray et al. Amanda Conner's amazing artwork, showcasing some of DC's most iconic female characters, is collected together for the first time in this large, deluxe format. Sourced from the original art, this collection reflects the diversity and power of Conner's style. High-resolution scans of Amanda's art boards for Power Girl #1, 7, 8 and 9, DC's Wednesday Comics Supergirl feature and the complete Before Watchman: Silk Spectre saga, as well as an assortment of cover art from these series. DC, 2016...More.

ORIENTAL ARTRecommended. By Èmile Prisse d'Avennes. This Taschen edition revives Prisse d'Avennes's (1807-1879) comprehensive chromolithograph survey in all its attention to detail, as well as to historical, social, and religious contexts. And it includes his supplementary studies of the people and costumes of the Nile Valley, which he published as the Oriental Album (Oriental Album: Characters, Costumes, and Modes of Life, the Valley of the Nile, London, 1848). With a keen eye for the symmetry, opulence, and complexity of local visual cultures, d'Avennes recorded the art and architecture which he encountered on his travels. Taschen, 2016...More.

Item Code: ORIAH
Hard Cover, 6x8, 520pg, Partial Color
$19.99

TALES OF THE PECULIARWith ten amazing woodcut scenes. Highly Recommended. By Ransom Riggs. Art by Andrew Davidson. Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The woman who befriended ghosts. Just three among ten truly brilliant stories—fairy tales of the "peculiar" world and clues to the locations of time loops—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. Stunning illustrations from world-renowned woodcut artist Andrew Davidson. I fell in love with this, for both stories and art. Reminds me of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, dark and always unexpected twists and turns. -Bud Dutton, 2016...More.

Last week we did an entire feature on wordless graphic novels, such as the ones from Lynd Ward. These are also considered woodcut novels--woodcut and wood engraving are technically a little different, but the terms are often interchanged. If you like one, you'll likely enjoy the other. I've been a fan of wood engraving like this, it's an amazing media to create it.

ART OF FRANCHESCO 2016 SKETCHBOOK SignedSigned! Recommended. A very polished, slick look at the latest from this Zenescope creator. Beautiful and sexy ladies abound here, including sketches of Bettie Page in bondage, a homage to Spidey's foe The Black Cat (his first of the female villains), Princess Leia, Harley Quinn,...etc. Step-by-step pages take you from first pencil rough to the finished page, including a very fine nude, a Black Cat centerspread, a homage to Sam J. Jones "Life After Flash," and a double-page steamy grown up Supergirl. 2016. Mature Readers...More.

A NEW HISTORY OF ANIMATION
By Maureen Furniss. The history and context of animation from around the world, explaining all the key technical concepts. This fills a gap in the market for a complete and well-researched animation history textbook that can be used by teachers in trade schools and universities, as well as by readers. Topics covered include: early cinema and the foundations of the animation industry; animation as modern art and the emergence of the major studios; animation during wartime; stop-motion; new audiences for animation, in advertising, television, and games; short films; computer-generated animation; international animation from Eastern Europe, Japan and elsewhere; and animation as an art form. Thames & Hudson, 2016...More.

MYTH & MAGIC An Enchanted Fantasy Coloring Book
By Kinuko Y. Craft. Immerse yourself in the enchanted fantasy world of Kinuko Y. Craft, celebrated contemporary illustrator, painter, and storyteller. Transcend time and space as you color to life these llustrations of goddesses, angels, fairies, princesses, heroes, and mythological creatures--all just asking to be colored. Craft's vast body of work includes award-winning illustrated books of classic fairy tales and cover art for fantasy novels, including her latest Beauty and the Beast. Amber Lotus, 2016...More.

Item Code: MYMCOL
Soft Cover, 9x11, 80pg, b&w
$12.99

Kinuko is responsible for our latest catalog cover, from her Beauty and the Beast picture book and calendar (see the catalog cover below for an image). See our website for Kinuko's book and both of her 2017 calendars. There you can also find our entire selection of coloring books.

Graphic Novels

BLACK DOG The Dreams of Paul Nash
By Dave McKean. Best known for his Sandman collaborations with Neil Gaiman, McKean's own graphic novel Cages won multiple awards for Best Graphic Album. Here is his new original graphic novel based on the life of Paul Nash, a surrealist painter during World War I. A real soldier's memoirs, a moving piece about how war and extreme situations change us, in Nash's case by turning his landscapes into powerful and fantastical psycho-scapes. Dark Horse, 2016...More.

Item Code: BDOG
Soft Cover, 9x12, 120pg, Full Color
$24.99 $21.99

BLACK DOG The Dreams of Paul Nash DeluxeSigned & numbered from 450. By Dave McKean. Oversized hardcover, with a special illustrated signature page entirely designed by Dave. Dave McKean is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art and sculpture. After a trip to New York in 1986 during which he failed to find work as a comics artist, McKean met writer Neil Gaiman and the pair collaborated on a short graphic novel of disturbing childhood memories, Violent Cases, published in 1987. Dark Horse, 2016...More.

CAGES (Second Edition)
By Dave McKean. Best known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean defied expectations with his debut as writer and artist in CAGES, winner of multiple awards for Best Graphic Album. Filled with complex characters, intriguing flights of fancy and all the quirky visuals you'd expect from the director of MirrorMask (Sony, 2005), CAGES is McKean's magnum opus. It chronicles the intersecting lives of a painter, a writer and a musician living in the same apartment building, a rumination on art, God, cats and the cages we build for ourselves. Dark Horse, 2016...More.

Item Code: CGES
Soft Cover, 9x11, 504pg, Two Color
$29.99 $24.99

BEYOND TIME AND AGAINHighly Recommended. By George Metzger. In 1967, George Metzger began serializing his counterculture comic strip Beyond Time and Again in underground West coast newspapers, combining high fantasy (a la Tolkien) with prescient views of science, climate change, and political authoritarianism (a la steampunk, before the term was invented). Faithfully reproduced, for the first time, from the original art, this comix collection brings Metzger's exquisite craft and mind-bending imagination to a new generation. Fantagraphics, 2016...More.

Item Code: BEYTI
Soft Cover, 12x9, 48pg, Two Color
$25.00 $21.99

CAPTAIN AMERICA Epic Collection Volume 2 The Coming of...the FalconCaptain America #100-119, Not Brand ECHH #3 and 12, Tales Of Suspense #97-99, 1968-69. Highly Recommended. By Stan Lee and Roy Thomas. Art by Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, John Romita, Gene Colan et al. Baron Zemo, the man who sent Captain America and Bucky Barnes plunging to the bottom of the North Atlantic, returns to menace Cap in a saga guest-starring Nick Fury, the Black Panther and Sharon Carter. There's Kirby action at its best and Lee drama at his deepest as Cap relives his first meeting with Bucky! It gets even more exciting when the world believes Steve Rogers is dead. An encounter with the Red Skull and his Cosmic Cube causes the two to switch bodies! Bonus 22 pages of original art pages. Marvel, 2016...More.

CAPTAIN MARVEL EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HERO Volume 2Captain Marvel (2012) #13-17, Avengers Assemble #16-19 + 3 more. By Kelly Sue Deconnick and Jen Van Meter. Art by Scott Hepburn, Gerardo Sandoval, Pat Olliffe et al. Captain Marvel and the Avengers face the enemy within! When vicious echoes from the past of Earth's Mightiest Heroes crop up all over Manhattan, Carol Danvers refuses to be grounded by her recent and mysterious loss of power. But who is the sinister figure behind the madness, and what does it have to do with Carol's calamitous condition? And the most disturbing question of all...is this villain even real? Things get worse as the events of Infinity unfold. Carol goes cosmic - Binary cosmic! Marvel, 2016...More.

Item Code: CME02
Soft Cover, 7x11, 280, Full Color
$29.99 $25.99

ALSO AVAILABLECAPTAIN MARVEL EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HERO Volume 1Collects #1-12, 2012-13. Recommended. By Kelly Sue Deconnick, Chris Sebela. Art by Dexter Soy, Emma Rios, Felipe Andrade. Carol Danvers has a new codename and is determined to prove herself the best of the best! She's forging a new future for herself as Captain Marvel, but finds that she still can't walk away from a challenge from her past! It's a firefight in the sky as the Banshee Squadron debut -- but who are the Prowlers, and where has Carol seen them before? Witness her in blazing battlefield action that just may change the course of history! Intriguing story, handsome artwork, appearances from Captain America. Offbeat and different. Marvel, 2016...More.

Item Code: CME01
Soft Cover, 7x11, 264, Full Color
$29.99 $25.99

SUPERGIRL BOOK Volume 1
By Peter David. Art by Gary Frank. From writer Peter David (The Incredible Hulk, X-Factor) and artist Gary Frank (Action Comics, Justice League) comes the start of the classic series that created a revolutionary new identity for the Maid of Might! Who is Linda Danvers? To her parents, Linda is a former good girl who now dabbles on the wrong side of the law. To her friends, she's a struggling artist and the ultimate Supergirl fan. To her boyfriend, Buzz, she's an eager accomplice as they try to harness dark forces more powerful than either of them can control. And after Buzz tries to use her to summon a demon, Linda Danvers is...dead? DC, 2016...More.

Item Code: SUGB01
Soft Cover, 7x10, 144pg, Full Color
$24.99 $21.99

Lots more Supergirl is on our website, from the Silver Age Omnibus to newer comics collections. And a vintage card set.

GOLDEN AGE OF WONDER WOMAN OMNIBUS Volume 1All Star Comics #8, Sensation #1-24, Wonder Woman #1-7, 1941-43 Highly Recommended. By William Moulton Marston. Wonder Woman, arguably the best-known female superhero in the world, was introduced in the early 1940s in these quirky tales written by the inventor of the lie detector, psychologist William Moulton Marston. In these stories, Wonder Woman travels from Paradise Island to Man's World, where she battles both common criminals and supervillains like Cheetah and her first nemesis, the Baroness Von Gunther. Her magic bracelets and lasso of truth stop injustice, but usually not before she is tied up again and again, one of Marton's favorite foils. DC, 2016...More.

Item Code: WWGAH
Hard Cover, 7x11, 776pg, Full Color
$75.00 $65.00

We try and stock all things Wonder Woman--her secret history, now on sale, more archives, and current graphic novels. And statues.

AQUAMAN A Celebration of 75 YearsRecommended. By Mort Weisinger, Paul Norris, Jim Aparo, Nick Cardy et al. Though often overshadowed, Aquaman is among the most enduring characters in the DC Universe. The King of Atlantis is one of the few Golden Age characters to survive into the present day, in part due to Ramona Fradon's wonderful artwork throughout the 1950s--and Nick Cardy later on. He's also a founding member of the Justice League, the first DC hero to start a family and soon will star in his own big-screen film. 400 pages of the iconic hero's finest moments... DC, 2016...More.

Item Code: AQ75H
Hard Cover, 7x10, 400pg, Full Color
$39.99 $34.99

BLACK PANTHER EPIC COLLECTION Volume 1 Panther's RageFantastic Four #52-53 & Jungle Action #6-24, 1966-76. Recommended. By Don McGregor, Rich Buckler, Billy Graham, Gil Kane, Keith Polland et al. In the 1960s, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created an unprecedented string of classic comic book heroes. Quite possibly the most iconic of them all was the high-tech king of Wakanda, The Black Panther. When the Panther began his own solo series, Don McGregor strove to meet Lee and Kirby's high standard with "Panther's Rage." It was an epic adventure so huge it ranged across the savannah, into the deepest jungles and up snow-topped mountains. Over its course, McGregor would explore and expand the life and culture of Wakanda and their African kingdom in compelling detail. Marvel, 2016...More.

See our website for nearly a years' worth of back issues. This is published every other month.

SCORCHY SMITH AND THE ART OF NOEL SICKLESPublished in 2008. Back in Print. Highly Recommended. By Bruce Canwell and Noel Sickles. Noel Sickles drew comics for three brief years, yet his groundbreaking work on the 1930s aviation adventure series Scorchy Smith is a milestone in the history of newspaper comic strips. Over the past 70 years, however, readers have seen only occasional excerpts of this seminal work. DW's Library of American Comics presents an oversized 352-page volume that collects, for the first time, every Sickles Scorchy strip, from 1933 to 1936, plus extensive extras examining Sickles's life and the decades-long influence of his work, and his career as one of America's foremost magazine illustrators. IDW, 2016...More.

Item Code: SSH
Hard Cover, 11x11, 352pg, Partial Color
$49.99 $39.99

Mature Readers

And two new sale-priced SQP art books: Mermaid Song 1 and Spellbound: Black Magic Women. We will have another ten or so titles from SQP also at half price, due in any day. Watch New Arrivals in the Mature section, and you can view all SQP titles on our website, including all current half-price collections.

Finally, we have three new photography calendars for 2017 that just arrived: Hot Buns, Hot Rides, and Hot List. All three are well done and tasteful, in their own way, with no explicit shots and no full nudity.

We publish a color catalog every two months—if you've placed an order in the last 12 months, you will receive it hot off the press. If this is your first order, or if you'd like an extra copy, you can add one to your order: click here. Or call or send us your address and we'll mail one to you. You can also download it here.

Contact us: csr@budsartbooks.com or 530-273-2166 Mon-Fri 9-4

Website Index

See our website for thousands of books of the Unusual and Hard-to-Find ~ Hundreds on Sale!